Saturday, March 27, 2010

I love it! After tedious amounts of time spent to get the stitches even alongside of each knit and crocheted block - it's complete! The result was well worth it! Thanks for everyone in the NYOBE neutral group (on ravelry) for your lovely additions :)

Friday, March 26, 2010

Last Sunday, Brandon and I went with our parents and a bunch of coworkers to a Limoncello tasting dinner with wine pairing. It was to die for! Here's a copy of our 5 course menu (pictures below). Tuscany in Westlake is truly a fantastic restaurant. I've never had a bad meal there. That being said, we could never afford to go on our own. I love opportunities to dress up and wear my wedding pearls :)

Brother, Dad & Brando =)

As always, I start the night off my taking pictures of each course to share with you. But, after a few glasses of wine, I forget. Here's the first two courses. The first was a goat cheese and tomato tart with a limoncello risotto ball. (mmm goat cheese) The second was asparagus with crab meat in a limoncello cream sauce. Both were absolutely delicious which says a lot since I never eat asparagus! I wish I took a picture of the dessert; Limoncello tiramisu with fresh berries!

My Father in Law, Jeff - the planner of the evening, was very happy about getting his bottle of Limoncello. He's already used it to make macaroon cookies = yum!

I'm still not a big fan of limoncello drinks, but food made with it are "nom nom". Yes, that is a technical term ;)

Monday, March 22, 2010

The teaser photo from my last post is in fact.... a doily! I know, I know, saying "doily" makes me think of something my grandmother used to make out of white crochet thread, which then got soaked in sugar, and shaped against a bowl. But this one's different - It's colorful! I think it looks great underneath a vase of blooming flowers =D

I participated in a 12x12 block exchange last year with the end result being an eclectic granny square blanket. Well, here's what it has looked like for the past 6 months:

I got the squares from everybody, but they've sat in a bag in my closet... until this week! I finished up my last two squares, and added a brown border on each of them (making all the stitch quantities equal on all 12 squares!). Now I'm working on joining them. It's a lot of work! I now remember why I like small projects. I'm going to wait to show you an updated picture until its complete. Hopefully this weekend!

I also received a hat swap package today! Love it!

And yes, that is a Wrestling Buddy on the shelf behind me. My husband has had it since he was a kid and will never give it up. =D

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Felting -a knitted or crocheted fabric of wool, fur, or hair, matted together by heat, moisture, and great pressure. The process sounds simple enough, just throw in your project with a load of laundry, hot/cold cycle and watch the magic happen.

Over the past few months I've tried 3 felting projects. None of them turned out exactly as I'd hoped.

Attempt #1:

Ipod case. I used Merino wool, which should felt up beautifully, but it barely felted! I ran this sucker through the washer 3 times, and I could still see the stitches.

Attempt #2:

Clutch purse. Better than the last, but you can still see the stitches.

Attempt #3:

With these 2 projects under my belt, I gave up and decided felting wouldn't work for me. Both projects barely shrunk up in size and barely matted up. This gave me a very distorted image of felting. Anywho, I made a swap hat over the weekend out of Patons Classic wool yarn. It was slightly big, so I thought - I'm going to felt it!! Since the other two felted items barely shrank, I assumed this one would do the same and fit perfectly after - WRONG! The result.... was a kids' hat!! (shrunk from 23-24" to 17-18")

This hat felted up completely!! There certainly are no stitches to be seen here. I was even able to cut the fabric without any running. I was shocked!! If you are about to embark in a felting project - I highly recommend this yarn! Since the original hat was intended for an adult, I had to make another hat - and I nixed the felting this time.

Friday, March 5, 2010

I finally made myself a Facebook fan page! I figured it was time to stop bogging my real life friends down with all my crafty projects, and start posting them to the fan page. In addition, its a great marketing/networking tool! win-win =D I also just created an album with customer photos. I absolutely love seeing my customers wearing the items I make for them. If you have a photo, please send it my way!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting Brig Van Osten from P!ay Hair Lounge (in Simi Valley). She ordered a "Blair bow headband" from me a few months back and asked if I could make it 3 times bigger than the normal one I sell in my shop. I remember thinking it was HUGE when I made it and was unsure how she'd like it. After meeting Brig, and watching her on Shear Genius (this season on Bravo!) I totally get it now! She definitely rocks the big bows! Check out how she spruced up the bow and made it her own using wire to make it stand up - love it!

(please ignore my frumpiness, it was after a long day at work)

Random thought of the day: I really don't think I could go a whole day without sugar! How sad is that?! Seriously though, dessert & sweets has literally become a step on my personal food pyramid. Ack! When I tell myself I need to cut back, or can't have it - I want it that much more! Hi my name is Ashley, and I'm a chocoholic.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

So, you remember those slippers I posted a picture of in my last post? Well, those are the ones I sent out for a slipper exchange. Check out these felted beauties I got in return!

I love the colors and I love that they're knit AND felted, as I haven't had much luck with felting in the past. They are very comfy, and I've worn them everyday since I got them.

Last night during Idol I finally finished the knitted hat I'd been working on! This was the first knit hat I've done in the round. In other words, it was also the first time I had to use double pointed needles for decreasing (once it got too hard to continue with circulars thats is). I felt like I was performing surgery with all the needles and everything going on at once. I wish I had snapped a picture of it. Although it had always looked intimidating to me, it wasn't so bad! Without further adieu, here's the finished product!